


Burned

by coloredmoon



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arson, M/M, Violence, lots of fire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29965440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coloredmoon/pseuds/coloredmoon
Summary: Nagisa Shiota never had high expectations for his life. Mostly, he just planned to finish his last year at Kunugigaoka junior high in silence and without attracting much attention. The return of Karma Akabane and his introduction to the arsonist life changes Nagisa's year entirely, and soon enough they end up as anonymous, fire-loving vigilantes fighting the unfair, discriminatory schoolsystem.
Relationships: Akabane Karma/Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Burned

“Karma, I’m serious,  _ put the lighter down _ ” 

Nagisa felt his entire body tense up as he watched the tiny flame, brought forth by the lighter in Karma’s hand, dance around carelessly. The way it disregarded any default form and refused to be motionless was entrancing, in a way, but also a little scary. That’s the thing about fire, it really is scary. Anything it touched, it burned without apprehension. 

The first memory that came up in Nagisa when thinking about fire, was his mother telling him to not stick his hand in it. Little Nagisa had really wanted to, even cried over it. His mother had been very clear however, if he touched the flame, he  _ would _ regret it. Safe to say, when he had secretly poked the fire, the moment his mother’s back was turned, he  _ did _ regret it. He never really wanted to stick his hand in again. 

And you know what? That's a normal experience, at least Nagisa thought so. It’s a trial and error thing and little Nagisa learned that sticking your hand in fire was a big error. And now, he knew because he had common sense. Any kid his age had learned what fire was, and what it did, so they would never stick their finger in like that. You just don’t play with fire. 

Yet, somehow, he was standing in front of Karma, his hands raised in defense, as Karma presented the lit lighter with a big grin on his face. He seemed oddly proud of the action, as if using a lighter was some kind of accomplishment. In reality, it was one simple movement. 

One Karma  _ obviously _ was not responsible enough to handle. 

“Nagisa, seriously, you act like I’m about to murder someone.” Karma sighed, his lips still curled into his menacing look. 

In response, Nagisa just glared at him for a moment. Sure, he was aware Karma didn’t have the most impulse control. And, yes, he knew of Karma’s love for destruction, as uselessly small as it usually ended up being. However, there was a certain line that Nagisa felt he shouldn’t cross, like one where his vandalist actions could actually hurt someone, too. 

“No, but- well- someone  _ can _ actually get physically hurt if this takes a-a bad turn, so it’s close enough!” Nagisa hissed, really hoping Karma would put the lighter down already. “B-besides, murder is illegal, and so is this!” 

“You worry too much.” Karma shrugged. 

“you want to set fire to that garbage too much.” Nagisa retorted. 

Neither of them said anything as Karma pursed his lips, trying to think of a response to that. Nagisa knew he was right. The amount of enthusiasm Karma had over setting some garbage on fire was  _ ridiculous _ . Honestly, Nagisa didn’t understand it. What on earth could be so great about watching some old cans and plastic packaging from a stranger’s trash can burn to crisps because of his doing? It was ridiculous, and a little psychotic. 

He eyed the flame once more, as if he were hoping his concerned look would somehow turn it off. The flame wasn’t going to be apologetic, that wasn’t how fire worked. He considered trying to steal it from Karma but, considering Karma’s build and fighting ability versus his, he realized how much of a hopeless case that was. Either Karma would floor him, or he’d accidentally burn himself. Probably both. 

There really wasn’t a way of stopping Karma the moment he’d squat down and held the small fire in his hand close to an obviously flammable piece of wrapping in the opened trash bag in front of them. A few stutters had left Nagisa, some last complaints and warnings that were sure to be ignored by his friend. 

Things didn’t immediately catch on. There was enough plastic and metal in the bag that did not have enough heat to melt yet, so it ended up being a rather slow process. A process during which Nagisa did not feel he had much more left to say. He wasn’t even sure why he stayed. Nothing was going to happen, and, if it did, Karma would just get him into trouble.  _ That _ wasn’t something Nagisa could afford. He’d have enough problems because he’s going to arrive home late, he didn’t really want to add involvement in vandalism to the list of things his mother could lecture him about. 

“This really wouldn’t even be that easy if these people separate their waste” Karma commented, only adding an innocent “what?” after looking up to see the expression on his friend’s face. 

Out of nowhere, the fire grew. It was so sudden that Nagisa caught himself jumping back a little. With one rather large piece of a paper bag brightly lit now, the items around it started to either melt or catch on too, causing an actual fire to appear. 

Nagisa had to admit, the fire wasn’t exactly bad to look at. There was something almost magical about the way it danced around and moved to the next flammable object in the pile. Nagisa convinced himself those thoughts weren’t a bad thing. It was normal for humans to like the sight of fire. People like candles, right? 

Still, after looking at the, now mostly wrecked, trash bag in front of him, Nagisa felt a little panic rise up. The plastic of the bag was melting due to the extreme heat, with harder pieces of plastic waste in the pile slowly curling up in between the sparks. Judging by the immense heat Nagisa was now feeling from his few steps distance, he did not think the fire was going to stop itself any minute. 

“Karma, put it out” Nagisa finally managed to speak up. 

His friend finally looked up from the fire, the kind of maniacal smile on his face disappearing as he met Nagisa’s eyes. He blinked a few times as he processed the other boy’s words, looked at the fire again, and then back up. 

“With what?” He asked. “It’s not like I carry a bucket of water around or anything?” 

Now it was Nagisa’s turn to just stare. There was a fire going on, one that did not probably have the capability of recognizing when to put itself out, and his friend seemed to be barely worried about it. Karma had wanted to set fire to something so bad. Had he not even considered putting it out eventually? Did he  _ want _ to leave it to burn something? 

“I don’t know?” Nagisa urged. “Stomp on it?!” 

“That’ll ruin my shoes.” 

“Then don’t set fire to stuff if you’re not prepared to put it out somehow!” 

The whole situation was starting to shoot Nagisa into panic. The fire below them only kept growing as they argued, and as it turned out, Karma really hadn’t brought anything to put the fire out. Sure, there was a chance the trash bag would just burn down in itself, however, there was always the chance it would catch on to something else. Perhaps he just had to isolate the flame? No, putting it out definitely was the best course of action. To say it worried Nagisa was an understatement. Yet, Karma’s expression was as smug as ever. 

“Ah, but you see,” The redhead spoke up. “Watching it burn down is fun.” 

Nagisa seriously considered hitting Karma, but he was all too aware he’d just get it back in tenfold. Hoping to find something to put the fire out with, he looked around the small alleyway they’d found themselves in. However, there really wasn’t much in sight. The only thing he saw was more trash piled next to an overly filled container, and Karma with a joyous expression on his face. 

He really should have expected his friend to be into the destructive force of fire. Not that he could completely understand. The knowledge that there was a growing fire in front of him forced him to recall just about every bad situation that could be caused by menacing flames. He barely dared to look down at this point. 

“Karma,” Nagisa finally ended up pleading. “Put. It. Out.” 

\--------------------

Eventually, Karma complied, stomping on the fire until the only thing that was left were crumbled down remains of trash and dark ashes surrounding it. As a sigh escaped Nagisa’s lips, some of his anxiety from before went with it. He barely registered Karma moving around in his bag next to him. Karma wasn’t even his main concern anymore, even though he was the start of the flame, both figuratively and literally. 

“calm down, it’s not like we burned down a building or anything,” Karma let out, seemingly amused. 

Nagisa didn’t particularly like his tone. He didn’t like the fact that Karma seemed proud of his achievement of starting some stupid fire. That’s all it was, really, a stupid fire. However, considering the whole situation, it felt like a lot more to Nagisa. 

He glanced at Karma. Karma, who had a neutral look on his face, a look in which one could perhaps even see a smile. It was something Nagisa had missed, seeing Karma’s smile. If, once again, this is what came with it, he wasn’t sure he really wanted it. Perhaps his neglect of these kinds of actions was the exact reason the two of them never really worked. 

Not wishing to stay much longer, he announced he had to go home now. He wanted to get away as soon as possible and forget that the entire afternoon had happened. Surely, if he came home and offered to help his mother with cleaning their apartment after dinner, he could not only avoid getting her in a bad mood, but also distract himself from the situation at hand. Well, there wasn’t much of a situation left after the way he’d responded to everything, probably. 

As he closed the front door behind him later, and called his mother to alert her of the fact that he was home, he couldn’t help but feel a little strange. As much as he’d hated the sheer panic of his and Karma’s afternoon plans, it sure was a change from his usual routine. And if he had to be honest, he wasn’t too big of a fan of his routine. He was reminded of that fact as his mother stopped in the middle of making the table to complain to him about how much she had to do in the house, and how he was taking it for granted and staying away too long instead of helping. 

He did end up helping her finish dinner, and did offer his help in cleaning up afterwards, which his mother took gladly. It didn’t really make Nagisa feel better, however. He really thought it was the distraction he wanted. If not a distraction, what was it Nagisa wanted? 

A little later in the night, as he sat in his room taking a last absent-minded look at his homework for the next day, he found something which he considered to be close to an answer. He couldn’t just stop thinking about what happened, because he wasn’t entirely sure  _ what _ had happened. It wasn’t the fire he was concerned about, it was Karma’s reaction to it. Karma had almost seemed… lively, because of the fire, and Nagisa wasn’t sure he understood that part of the experience. 

At the very least, Nagisa had to admit that the ashy remains afterwards looked a little like an artwork. 

**Author's Note:**

> Starting a fire, starting a fic! This is a fic I've been planning for a while and I'm really enthusiastic about. Perhaps it is a little self projecting. 
> 
> This fic WILL include some violence and harm, considering it is about arson and fire is a dangerous thing you shouldn't play with or whatever. No, but, seriously... be careful with fire. I'm not saying this fic will teach you that, because I am portraying two main characters as arsonists.  
> Also, if you don't ship them, that's fine, I'm not one to force it and it will not be the prominent storyline in this fic, but please don't hate in the comments. I like adding the karmagisa romance plotline, okay? My fic, my preferences. 
> 
> I think this may become my main project, but it depends how my other fics will go and the fics that are still to come.


End file.
